Ollama Abnormal Network Connectivity

SPLUNK detection rule by Rod Soto · Apache-2.0

Detects abnormal network activity and connectivity issues in Ollama including non-localhost API access attempts and warning-level network errors such as DNS lookup failures, TCP connection issues, or host resolution problems that may indicate network-based attacks, unauthorized access attempts, or infrastructure reconnaissance activity.

name: Ollama Abnormal Network Connectivity
id: 19ec30ad-faa2-496a-a6a9-f2e5f778fbdb
version: 5
creation_date: '2025-10-13'
modification_date: '2026-05-13'
author: Rod Soto
status: experimental
type: Anomaly
description: Detects abnormal network activity and connectivity issues in Ollama including non-localhost API access attempts and warning-level network errors such as DNS lookup failures, TCP connection issues, or host resolution problems that may indicate network-based attacks, unauthorized access attempts, or infrastructure reconnaissance activity.
data_source:
    - Ollama Server
search: |-
    `ollama_server` level=WARN (msg="*failed*" OR msg="*dial tcp*" OR msg="*lookup*" OR msg="*no such host*" OR msg="*connection*" OR msg="*network*" OR msg="*timeout*" OR msg="*unreachable*" OR msg="*refused*")
      | eval src=coalesce(src, src_ip, "N/A")
      | stats count as incidents, values(src) as src, values(msg) as warning_messages, latest(_time) as last_incident
        BY host
      | eval last_incident=strftime(last_incident, "%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S")
      | eval severity="medium"
      | eval attack_type="Abnormal Network Connectivity"
      | stats count
        BY last_incident, host, incidents,
           src, warning_messages, severity,
           attack_type
      | `ollama_abnormal_network_connectivity_filter`
how_to_implement: 'Ingest Ollama logs via Splunk TA-ollama add-on by configuring file monitoring inputs pointed to your Ollama server log directories (sourcetype: ollama:server), or enable HTTP Event Collector (HEC) for real-time API telemetry and prompt analytics (sourcetypes: ollama:api, ollama:prompts). CIM compatibility using the Web datamodel for standardized security detections.'
known_false_positives: Legitimate remote access from authorized users or applications connecting from non-localhost addresses, temporary network infrastructure issues causing DNS resolution failures, firewall or network configuration changes resulting in connection timeouts, cloud-hosted Ollama instances receiving valid external API requests, or intermittent connectivity problems during network maintenance may trigger this detection during normal operations.
references:
    - https://github.com/rosplk/ta-ollama
drilldown_searches:
    - name: View the detection results for - "$src$"
      search: '%original_detection_search% | search  "$src = "$src$"'
      earliest_offset: $info_min_time$
      latest_offset: $info_max_time$
    - name: View risk events for the last 7 days for - "$src$"
      search: '| from datamodel Risk.All_Risk | search normalized_risk_object IN ("$src$",) | stats count min(_time) as firstTime max(_time) as lastTime values(search_name) as "Search Name" values(risk_message) as "Risk Message" values(analyticstories) as "Analytic Stories" values(annotations._all) as "Annotations" values(annotations.mitre_attack.mitre_tactic) as "ATT&CK Tactics" by normalized_risk_object | `security_content_ctime(firstTime)` | `security_content_ctime(lastTime)`'
      earliest_offset: 7d
      latest_offset: "0"
intermediate_findings:
    entities:
        - field: host
          type: system
          score: 20
          message: 'Abnormal network activity detected on $host$ with $incidents$ incidents from $src$. Investigation needed for network errors: $warning_messages$.'
threat_objects:
    - field: src
      type: system
analytic_story:
    - Suspicious Ollama Activities
asset_type: Web Application
mitre_attack_id:
    - T1571
product:
    - Splunk Enterprise
    - Splunk Enterprise Security
    - Splunk Cloud
category: application
security_domain: endpoint
tests:
    - name: True Positive Test
      attack_data:
        - data: https://media.githubusercontent.com/media/splunk/attack_data/master/datasets/ollama/app.log
          sourcetype: ollama:server
          source: app.log
      test_type: experimental
      description: This test is a legacy experimental test and may not be accurate.

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8d6d6b92-2bc1-4866-a171-2fef7c385e8b

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